NPHET is meeting this morning to consider recommending more restrictions, due to high Covid case numbers and the worrying new variant.
The first Omicron case was confirmed here yesterday, while the five-day moving average of coronavirus infections is nearly 4,500.
But Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told his parliamentary party last night he's not convinced new restrictions are needed.
The government has already introduced some measures due to the new variant, including home quarantine from seven southern African countries.
But Dr David Nabarro, from the World Health Organisation, says they won't have much impact.
"I don't imagine that that'll be enough to stop this virus variant from becoming a dominant variant in Ireland if it wants to.
"If this virus is going to spread, and particularly if it's got some advantages like it transmits more easily, or it can evade the protection that we have from the vaccines that are being used at the moment, if it has these advantages, I tell you, this variant will become dominant."
